Lacrosse draws junior to Johnson County
Sport not offered in Lawrence schools, Strauss plays with O-East
Running down the field, junior Coulter Strauss plays lacrosse with his Olathe East team. He has played on that school’s varsity team since his freshman year. Photo courtesy of J. Bigelow
March 10, 2015
Out of the sports offered to students at LHS, to junior Coulter Strauss, there is one glaring hole: lacrosse.
Since lacrosse isn’t offered here, Strauss travels to Johnson County and plays for rival school Olathe East. A limited number of schools — including Olathe East and South, Rockhurst and Blue Valley West — offer lacrosse programs so those schools include players from around the state on their teams.
Strauss has taken the 30-minute commute to the Olathe East football field to practice with the varsity squad since his freshman year.
“It obviously isn’t my thing to do,” Strauss said. “But it is a pretty easy drive out there, and it is most definitely worth it.”
Mike Strauss, his father, doesn’t think the long drive is too bad because of what it is worth to his son.
“I don’t mind it because I know how passionate he is about playing lacrosse,” he said. “And plus, we get to spend some time together.”
The original plan for him was not to play at Olathe East, but that’s where he ended up.
“I knew going into my freshman year I couldn’t play at LHS so I knew I would have to travel out of town,” Strauss said. “I originally thought I was going to end up at Blue Valley West because that is where my youth team that I played with was from, so I was a little surprised to find out that I was going to play for O-East.”
Strauss sees lacrosse as a very physical sport.
“I like it because it is a really good combination of skill and physicality and really requires a lot of teamwork as well,” he said.
Last year Coulter was given the team’s MVP award for his outstanding play on the field, but instead of receiving it, he turned it down and gave it to another kid he thought was deserving.
“I thought our goalie deserved it,” Strauss said. “He was the key part to our team. When he played well, we played well.”
In the past, there has been interest in LHS starting a lacrosse program, but it has never actually gone through. No school west of Olathe and east of Garden City plays lacrosse, leading to Strauss’ travels.
If LHS were to try and get a program together, Strauss said he would help out as much as he could.
“At this point in my high school career, I would stay committed to the team I’ve been on the last few years,” Strauss said. “I would try to be involved with the program as much as I could possibly be.”
